源自於 工商,商周,BBC,經濟,Upaper 的英文筆記

TalkAsia Interview with Controversial Publishing MogulJimmy LaiANJALI RAO, TALKASIA A media empire built on risk and controversy. Fromworking on the black market as a young boy to startingwhat would become a major clothing brand, and latertransitioning into all forms of media.

JIMMY LAI, MEDIA MOGUL I'm very successful, I made a lot of moneyand I've no sense of fear.

ANJALI RAO, TALKASIA He's a shrewd businessman, outspoken,provocative and he is gearing up for his nextbig venture. What is it about mainland China that justrubs you up the wrong way?

JIMMY LAI, MEDIA MOGUL It's not mainland China that rubs methe wrong way. It's the dictatorship that rubsme the wrong way. It's the freedom thatwe as Chinese people are not allowed toflourish, that rubs me on the wrong way. Idon't have dignity. And to me it's not a political issue whetheryou have democracy or what. It's a moralissue. You know, I think morally a personshould be free. I was．．．I live in China. Isuffer in China. Not because I suffer, so I takerevenge now. Because I suffered, I know howimportant freedom is to a person.

ANJALI RAO, TALKASIA Going back to 1989 and Tianamen Square, youlike many other people were absolutely outraged atthe events that you saw unfolding, and you spokeout in a now very famous editorial in which you likenedcertain members of the Chinese leadership to a turtle'segg. Which is an extreme insult in Chinese culture.

JIMMY LAI, MEDIA MOGUL Right. Right.

ANJALI RAO, TALKASIA What was the fallout from your words?

JIMMY LAI, MEDIA MOGUL I was just very angry. That's impulsiveness. Maybesomebody says this is uncouthness, but I did it. Ipaid for it.

ANJALI RAO, TALKASIA How did you pay for it?

JIMMY LAI, MEDIA MOGUL Well, I had to close down my factories in China.Eventually I had to sell Giordano, which I built, because,you know, otherwise our shops in China would beclosed, and without the Chinese store as a publiccompany we are dead, so I had to sell it. I have noregrets.

ANJALI RAO, TALKASIA People see you very much as publish theboundaries, some people even think you totallyoverstep them. There was one article that I readabout you that said, "Lai has never met a paparazzishot or a gory crime scene photo that he wouldn'tpublish."

JIMMY LAI, MEDIA MOGUL Well, that's not true. That's not true, butwe sometimes overstep. That's true. Well,it's just sometimes we．．．well, every timewe make a mistake, we apologize for it. I just tell all my people, I say, look, we'renot．．．we are not perfect. We're just human,but our responsibility is to face the mistakewe make and apologize for it if we make it,yeah. Sometimes you overstep and you findout some other truth. Sometimes youoverstep and just are a fool, andsometimes I was.

ANJALI RAO, TALKASIA When you look at mainland China now,how do you see it?

JIMMY LAI, MEDIA MOGUL Well, I think China definitely hasprogressed a lot, you know, to be fair to them.You know, they have lifted a lot of poorpeople to middle class and all that, but Ithink going forward, that's the greatest testfor China. Now they have the economicproblem, it it's gonna be really economicimplosion, that will create a lot of socialproblems, because in China it's not like inany other country. They don't have the intermediateinstitution. They don't have the NGO, theydon't have the church, they don't have thetemple, they don't have the unions and allthat. You know, it's just the free market andthe government. So if the market fails, and thegovernment is dragged downwith it, what holdingsociety up? And also, in China you have avacuum of moral infrastructure. There'sno moral infrastructure in China. You know,in chaos, when everybody is fighting for asmaller pie, what happens? That would bea dreadful scene, and that's something thatworries me about China, if the economy isgonna do．．．is gonna go south.

ANJALI RAO, TALKASIA Where do you want to take your businessin the foreseeable future?

JIMMY LAI, MEDIA MOGUL TV.

ANJALI RAO, TALKASIA TV?

JIMMY LAI, MEDIA MOGUL Yes, we are．．．

ANJALI RAO, TALKASIA I highly recommend it.

JIMMY LAI, MEDIA MOGUL Thank you. I'm sure. I don't know whatwe're gonna do yet, honestly. You know, I justthink that, you know, the TV in Tainan, alsoin Hong Kong, the most salient problem thatI can see is lack of creativity. It's very boring.How can we make it not so boring? And that'sthe challenge. I've no answer yet, but Ithink that's the way we have to go.